1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder-containing connector which is capable of prohibiting a deflection of a resilient locking lance provided for locking a connector terminal in the housing, and also capable of improving a secure locking of the terminal and detection of an improper halfway insertion of the terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 6 and 7 show a conventionally used holder-containing connector as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 3-1463.
In the figures, a holder-containing connector 41 is composed of a male connector housing 44 having a connector receiving section 43 inside a hood section 42 thereof, and a front holder 45 which is to be inserted into the connector receiving section 43 from the front side thereof. The front holder 45 includes a preliminary locking projection 47 to be fitted with an inner wall 46 of the connector receiving section 43 and a locking projection 49 to be fitted with a female terminal 48 (in FIG. 7) held within the connector receiving section 43. The locking projection 49 is provided on a resilient plate 50, and can be fitted in a locking hole of the terminal 48.
The front holder 45 is inserted into the connector housing 44, and is pushed outward from its preliminary locked position by an insertion of the terminal 48, as disclosed in FIG. 7, so that the rear end 48a of the terminal 48 is fitted with the rear protrusion 52 of the terminal accommodating chamber 51 and the terminal 48 is pushed up by a resilient arm 53 at the same time. When, from this situation, the holder 45 is again pushed in, the resilient plate 50 is deflected and the locking projection 49 thereof is fitted with the terminal 48 to be locked thereby. Here, in case the terminal 48 is not in the fully inserted state, as shown in FIG. 7 again, if the holder 45 is pushed in, the terminal 48 is rearwardly pushed, whereby it is detected that the terminal is in an imperfectly inserted state.
However, the structure of the above-mentioned conventional type holder-containing connector has been made more complicated year by year with a recent trend for minimization of connectors and/or addition of preliminary and secondary locking projections and so on, so that a fitting tolerance between the connector housing 44 and the holder 45 is made larger and the holder becomes unstable, whereby even in the event that the terminal 48 is not fully inserted, the far end of the arm 50 of the holder 45 cannot be readily abutted against the front end of the terminal 48. On the other hand, there has also been a case that the tolerance between the connector housing 44 and the holder 45 is made extremely small, thereby making it difficult to insert the holder 45.
The present invention is made for solving the above problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a holder-containing connector which is capable of realizing a secure locking of the terminal, and also an easy and comfortable insertion of the holder, by eliminating a variation in the dimensions of each holder with respect to the connector housing.